Nick Cannon and Jed Walentas Put an End to the Recession

Don’t listen to all the reports of economic doom and gloom. The good times are here again! How do we know? Because insane condo parties have returned.

Once a staple of the bubble, over-the-top parties tapered off when matters grew more pressing for developers than whether to serve white Champagne or rosé. You could almost hear the madness coming to a head when John Legend performed at an opening in the Financial District and Seal was doing a gig at another project uptown. On the same night. The Times called it a real estate battle of the bands.

With units disappearing and prices creeping up from not-so lows, we’ll go ahead and say it: the housing market, at least in New York, is back. As if we needed a clearer indication of that, consider the opening party for the Mercedes House.

First off, consider the Mercedes House itself. A high-profile architect, Enrique Norten, built an unusually shaped building that zigzags up from the Hudson. There is a Mercedes dealership on the ground floor. The building, the first major Manhattan project by David and Jed Walentas‘ Two Trees Development, is named after this dealership. Let us repeat. The building is called the Mercedes House. The building is called the Mercedes House.

If that were not enough, the opening party will be hosted by former Nickelodeon darling Nick Cannon. Our favorite cabaretist and star spawn Alexa Ray Joel will be there, along with Rev. Run of Run DMC fame. Oh, and the chairman and the CEO of Mercedes. The food is by the chef at Danny Meyer’s Modern, Gabriel Kreuther. A surprise musical guest is promised. Could it be Mr. Cannon’s inimitable wife, Mariah Carey?

Pass the Champagne, would you?

Update: A point of clarification—the party is being hosted by Mercedes-Benz at their dealership, not by Two Trees at the condos. Still, we think the party, which is next Tuesday, speaks for itself.